A CHRISTMAS shopping outing for a Welsh man and his heavily pregnant wife turned into a modern nightmare with overtones of the Nativity.

Gary Inman, a 34-year-old security guard, had just bought an expensive suite in Courts Furnishers at Upper Fforest Way in Swansea's Enterprise Park when he discovered his Hyundai Getz had been stolen from the store car park.

Left with no cash and no mobile phone, he was allowed to use the store's telephone to call the police.

The car was taken just after 5pm on Sunday and the store was about to close.

Mr Inman, of Llanybydder near Lampeter, said the police issued him with a crime number "but did not turn up".

He said, "I had my pregnant wife Sinead with me, my five-year-old daughter Aimee, no car, no money, and we were 50 miles from home."

Mr Inman said the store staff told him Courts was closing.

He said, "We had no option but to move on.

"It was dark, cars laden with Christmas gifts were zooming past, and we just had to shuffle along a road as best we could with no real idea about where were going."

The bewildered family arrived at a burger bar, but when Mr Inman asked to use the telephone to summon a relative he said he was told "you have to buy something".

Mr Inman said, "It would have been difficult to buy anything because our cash had been in the car.

"We just had to move out. I grabbed the hand of my daughter and my wife and walked out into the cold and the darkness."

As Mr Inman and his 23-year-old wife began their search in the dark for a telephone box, a few miles away in the centre of Swansea fireworks were going off as the city's Christmas lights were switched on.

Sunday was chosen for the big switch-on to highlight the growth of Sunday trading in the city.

Mr Inman added, "We had no idea where to go but were looking for a telephone box where I hoped to do a reverse charge call to summon Sinead's mother.

"The Enterprise Zone is fine if you have a car, but it's not really designed for people on foot.

"We had to cross in heavy traffic in the dark and eventually we found ourselves scrambling through bushes.

"I could hardly believe it. One minute we were surrounded by cars and concrete then we were in the middle of what seemed to be rose bushes.

"We came out the other side and found ourselves close to a giant Asda store.

"We walked towards it and thankfully we were given a wonderfully warm reception.

"The security staff took us under their wing, gave us cups of coffee and gave us free use of their telephone, even though we weren't customers.

"They couldn't have done more for us.

"We got in touch with Sinead's mum but it turned out Sinead's brother had been involved in a car accident and she had to go with him to hospital.

"We were in Asda for five hours, but eventually Sinead's mother arrived and fortunately her son's injuries were minor.

"We got home just before midnight.

"Our trip turned into a complete nightmare.

"I never realised how many telephone boxes had been removed because people these days have mobiles.

"I was shocked that the store where we bought our suite did not do more for us, that the police did not turn up and that the burger bar people just did not want to know if we were not buying anything.